|
|
|
|
| RENDEZVOUS, RETRIEVAL AND DEPLOY |
| Overview |
|
Operations associated with rendezvous, retrieval and deploy of the Hubble Space Telescope are similar to those associated with other space shuttle missions. Discovery's initial rendezvous burn is actually the launch of the shuttle from the Kennedy Space Center, FL. The launch is precisely timed to occur during about a 42-minute launch window as the telescope passes within a prescribed distance of the launch site. After launch, mission control and the crew will oversee a number of orbit adjust and course correction burns to catch up with and retrieve the telescope on flight day three of the mission.  |
| History/Background |
|
Once Discovery is safely in orbit and the payload bay doors are opened, the Ku-band antenna is activated and used to provide radar data to the crew and ground during the rendezvous process. The day after launch, the crew will checkout the shuttle's robot arm (Remote Manipulator System) to be used throughout the mission. Also, activation of the space support equipment is performed. This includes activating the flight support system and heaters on the orbital replacement unit carrier housing the scientific instruments and hardware that will be installed on the telescope. The terminal initiation burn occurs about two hours prior to capture as the shuttle reaches a distance of about eight miles behind Hubble. Several small correction burns follow before Commander Curt Brown takes over manual control of Discovery at a distance of about 2,500 feet below. The approach from underneath minimizes any potential contamination to the telescope from the shuttle's thruster firings. Because Hubble was placed in a configuration to keep it pointed to the Sun due to its latest gyroscope failure, Brown may have to conduct a partial flyaround of the telescope to align the Shuttle's robot arm with Hubble's grapple fixture. When Discovery reaches a point about 35 feet from Hubble, astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy will use the robot arm to capture the telescope's grapple fixture located midway up the HST structure. Following capture, Hubble will be lowered onto the flight support system, a turntable likened to a 'Lazy Susan' for its ability to rotate and tilt to assist in the servicing tasks. An electrical cable is remotely attached to provide orbiter power to the telescope throughout the servicing portion of the mission.  
|
Editorial/Technical Comments: ShuttlePresskit
